MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the death penalty in Iran
15.2.2022 - (2022/2541(RSP))
pursuant to Rule 144 of the Rules of Procedure
Željana Zovko, Michael Gahler, Sandra Kalniete, Andrey Kovatchev, Isabel Wiseler‑Lima, Miriam Lexmann, Adam Jarubas, Sara Skyttedal, Tomáš Zdechovský, Inese Vaidere, Krzysztof Hetman, David Lega, Janina Ochojska, Christian Sagartz, Antonio López‑Istúriz White, Javier Zarzalejos, Tom Vandenkendelaere, Helmut Geuking, Radosław Sikorski, Eugen Tomac, Vladimír Bilčík, José Manuel Fernandes, Elżbieta Katarzyna Łukacijewska, Eva Maydell, Vangelis Meimarakis, Romana Tomc, Peter Pollák, Stelios Kympouropoulos, Arba Kokalari, Loránt Vincze, Jiří Pospíšil, Ivan Štefanec, Seán Kelly, Michaela Šojdrová, Luděk Niedermayer
on behalf of the PPE Group
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B9-0105/2022
B9‑0115/2022
European Parliament resolution on the death penalty in Iran
The European Parliament,
- having regard to its previous resolutions on Iran,
- having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,
- having regard to EU Guidelines on the Death Penalty,
- having regard to the EU’s Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime (EU Magnitsky Act),
– having regard to the statements on Iran of 18 March 2021 issued by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights requesting the immediate release of Dr Ahmadreza Djalali and of 25 November 2020 calling on Iran to halt his execution, as well as the opinion of its Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of 24 November 2017 concerning Ahmadreza Djalali (Islamic Republic of Iran),
- having regard to the statement by the Spokesperson for the European External Action Service (EEAS) of 30 January 2022 on the sentencing of Narges Mohammadi,
- having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
- having regard to Rule 144 of its Rules of Procedure,
A. whereas abolition of the death penalty worldwide is one of the main objectives of the EU’s human rights policy;
B. whereas according to the United Nations (UN) between 1 January and 1 December 2021, at least 275 people were executed in Iran, including at least 2 child offenders and 10 women; whereas Iran has the world’s highest number of executions per inhabitant;
C. whereas Swedish-Iranian national Dr Ahmadreza Djalali, who is a scholar at Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Università del Piemonte Orientale, was sentenced to death on spurious espionage charges in October 2017 following a grossly unfair trial based on a confession extracted under torture and is periodically held in solitary confinement in Evin Prison;
D. whereas numerous cases have been reported of inhumane and degrading conditions, particularly in Evin prison, and of lack of adequate access to medical care during detention in Iran, in contravention of the UN’s Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners;
E. whereas other EU nationals are being arbitrarily detained in Iran; whereas Iran does not recognise dual nationality, thereby limiting the access foreign embassies have to their dual nationals held in the country;
F. whereas Mohammad Javad, a boxing champion, was sentenced to death in January 2022, after being charged with ‘spreading corruption on Earth’; whereas wrestler Navid Afkari, who stated that he had been tortured into making a false confession, was executed in 2020; whereas their sentences are directly related to their peaceful exercise of the rights of freedom of expression and assembly;
G. whereas the convictions of Mohammad Javad and Navid Afkari are part of an intensified crackdown against athletes in Iran;
H. whereas Narges Mohammadi, a Per Anger Prize laureate who’s been leading the campaign against the death penalty in Iran, was recently sentenced to another eight years prison term and 70 lashes;
I. whereas large-scale enforced disappearances and summary executions of political dissidents in 1988 have to date have not been the subject of any investigation or accountability;
J. whereas the EU has adopted restrictive measures related to violations of human rights, including asset freezes and visa bans for individuals and entities responsible for grave human rights violations, and a ban on exports to Iran of equipment which might be used for internal repression and of equipment for monitoring telecommunications; whereas these measures are regularly updated and remain in place;
1. Reiterates its strong opposition to the death penalty in all circumstances; calls on the Government of Iran to introduce an immediate moratorium on the use of the death penalty as a step towards abolition and commute all death sentences;
2. Expresses its deepest condolences to the families, friends and colleagues of all innocent victims;
3. Urges the Iranian authorities to immediately drop all charges against Dr Ahmadreza Djalali, and to release and compensate him, and stop threatening his family in Iran and Sweden;
4. Reiterates its call on the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and the EU Member States to do their utmost to prevent Dr Ahmadreza Djalali’s execution;
5. Urges the Iranian authorities to cooperate without further ado with EU Member State embassies in Tehran in order to enable the establishment of a comprehensive list of EU-Iranian dual nationals currently being detained in Iranian prisons;
6. Calls on all EU Member States to jointly make public statements and undertake diplomatic initiatives to monitor unfair trials and visit prisons where human rights defenders and other prisoners of conscience are being detained, including EU nationals in Iran, in line with the EU Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders;
7. Calls on the Iran authorities to release all political prisoners, including human rights defenders;
8. Deplores the systematic torture in Iranian prisons and calls for the immediate cessation of all forms of torture and ill-treatment of all detainees; condemns the practice of denying access to phone calls and family visits for detainees;
9. Strongly condemns the steadily deteriorating human rights situation in Iran, including and especially for persons belonging to ethnic and religious minorities, due to systemic political, economic, social and cultural discrimination; deplores the alarming escalation in the use of the death penalty against protesters, dissidents and members of minority groups;
10. Calls on the Iranian authorities to address all forms of discrimination against persons belonging to ethnic and religious minorities, including Christians and Baha’i, and LGBTI persons, and to immediately and unconditionally release all those imprisoned for exercising their right to freedom of religion or belief or sexual orientation;
11. Highlight that citizens of Iran, through citizen-led initiatives, are consistently calling for the abolition of the death penalty and an end to its use against human rights defenders and its disproportionate use against minorities; supports the Iranian civil society and their peaceful efforts for human rights;
12. Urges the Government of Iran to ensure prompt, thorough, transparent and effective investigations by an independent and impartial body into the use of excessive and lethal force during protests, deaths in custody and reports of torture and other ill-treatment, and to prosecute and hold accountable all perpetrators of these human rights violations;
13. Calls on Iran to allow visits by and fully cooperate with all special procedures of the UN Human Rights Council, including the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran;
14. Welcomes the adoption of the Human Rights Sanctions Mechanism, the so-called Magnitsky Act, by the Council as an important EU instrument to sanction violators of human rights; calls for targeted measures (either using the current EU human rights sanctions regime against Iran or the EU’s global human rights sanctions regime (EU Magnitsky Act)) against Iranian officials who have committed serious human rights violations including executions and arbitrary detentions of dual and foreign nationals in Iran, including judges who have sentenced to death journalists, human rights defenders, political dissidents and activists;
15. Considers that further targeted sanctions will be necessary if the Iranian authorities do not free Dr Ahmadreza Djalali, as the EU and its Member States are requesting;
16. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the UN Secretary-General, the Supreme Leader and the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Members of Iran’s Majles.